The Panic of 1837 was a major U.S. financial crisis triggered by banking instability and a collapse in land speculation.
Many banks suspended specie payments on May 10, 1837, meaning they stopped exchanging paper notes for gold or silver. The crisis followed years of rapid economic expansion, cotton speculation, easy credit, and policies associated with President Andrew Jackson, including the removal of federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States.
The panic produced bank failures, falling commodity prices, business closures, and severe unemployment. Its effects lasted for several years, making it one of the longest depressions in nineteenth-century America.
The crisis is often linked with the Independent Treasury debate. It also differs from the Panic of 1857, which began after the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company and the collapse of railroad speculation.